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A backyard pond is a landscape feature on its own, but add plants and you bring color, texture, wildlife -- and a balance that leads to a pond that can stay clean without a filter. Planting an aquatic plant that grows in soil isn't much different than planting any container plant, though you'll need to take a few special considerations to effectively submerge the plant -- and keep it below the water's surface.

1

Fill pots to within an inch of the rim with soil from your garden. Unlike other container plants, where you use lightweight potting mixes and avoid garden soil, the heavier the soil you plant in the better. A nutrient-rich clay loam is recommended.

2

Top pots with an inch of gravel or other small stones. This adds weight to keep the pot from floating to the top as water saturates the soil, It also keeps the soil in the container.

3

Adjust the height and placement of your pond plants with cinderblocks, bricks or inverted pots. Hardy waterlilies (Nymphaea spp.), suitable for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9, should have their growing points a minimum of 6 to 12 inches under the surface of the water in a sunny pond. Marginal plants, such as blue flag (Iris versicolor) or horsetail (Equisetum hyemale), need to have their growing points up to 6 inches under water. Both are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9.

4

Scoop out some water from the pond with a measuring cup or other container, and soak the plant's soil with water.

5

Lower the plant slowly into the water to a few inches below the water. Move it to the correct depth for the plant, based on its type, once you see signs of new growth.

Things You Will Need

Garden soil

Plant pot

Gravel

Bricks or cinderblocks, optional

Measuring cup

Tip

Mesh baskets with lids and holes for plant stems are available for planting, but aren't necessary.

About the Author

Patricia Hamilton Reed has written professionally since 1987. Reed was editor of the "Grand Ledge Independent" weekly newspaper and a Capitol Hill reporter for the national newsletter "Corporate & Foundation Grants Alert." She has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Michigan State University, is an avid gardener and volunteers at her local botanical garden.